Analyst Working Class

Pay More to Read Less

With the internet, the cost to consume texts has exceeded the cost to supply them.

Just as fuel became too expensive for gas-guzzling vehicles in 2008, readers’ time has become too “expensive” for traditional long-form content today. This results in reader behavior changes:

1. Switching to shorter formats (articles, summaries, abstracts, bite-sized content)
2. Using audiobooks and podcasts while multitasking
3. Seeking video or infographic alternatives, or in-person services like training and consulting.

Since time has become so “expensive” for readers,

1. Readers are less willing to pay with their TIME for long content but more willing to pay MONEY for content that saves their time (pay for editing)
2. Raw information itself becomes cheaper (less profitable), while analysis and synthesis becomes pricier (more profitable).

Just as the auto industry had to adapt to expensive fuel with more fuel-efficient cars and less large SUVs, the publishing industry is adapting to readers’ “expensive” time:

• Rise of book summary services and newsletters with key takeaways (smart brevity) ¹
• Growth in short-form content platforms (Twitter, TikTok, 小红书)
• More audio (podcast), visual (video) and condensed (plotting) content format, and more in-person activities (summit, workshop).

The result is market bifurcation ² :

• Mass market moves toward free, short-form content
• Premium market emerges for well-researched, concise analysis
• Middle ground (traditional long-form without clear value-add) struggles

Information as a Product

When analysis of information becomes a premium product, the corresponding workers, analysts, who provide it, emerge as a new working class.